Plenty of things make you feel safer when travelling. You may research the safety of your destinations, memorise the emergency phone numbers, and equip yourself with anti-theft backpacks or money belts. But few travellers consider the safety of their online presence when travelling abroad.

A free public WiFi connection can save you from getting lost. And a chance to upload an Instagram story (or ten) is a common way of telling your friends what you’ve been up to.

But connecting to public WiFi poses security risks that most travellers don’t consider before they pack their bags.

The ones that do acknowledge these risks use a virtual private
network (VPN).

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network is a service that hides your identity
and activities from snooping eyes. Your internet service provider (ISP), the
websites you visit, the hackers lurking around the public WiFi – you name it.

When you use a VPN, your internet service provider sees that you
have connected to a VPN service. But it doesn’t know what you do afterwards –
what sites you visit or what information you upload and download.

The VPN also covers your IP address (and along with it – your
location) from the sites you visit. The websites will still know who you are if
you choose to log in to your accounts, for example, Facebook. But they won’t
have a way to identify you if you don’t log in.

And most importantly, the VPN encrypts your connection to the
internet. Even if the internet connection is sabotaged by hackers eagerly
waiting to steal your bank details, you’re in the clear. They won’t be able to
decipher any of the data they take.

Why you need a
VPN when traveling

Safety and privacy

Like keeping your belongings safe when traveling, your privacy
needs to be safe too. And VPN is the way to do it.

Every time you connect to a public WiFi, you may be facing a
privacy issue. Hackers may use the open network to steal your data, including
your bank account details. But when you use a VPN, your data is encrypted. Even
if someone managed to intercept it, it would look like gibberish.

Only the VPN provider would be able to know what you do online. That’s why you need a VPN that’s trustworthy and has a proven no-log policy.

Accessing
restricted content

Most countries have some restrictions when it comes to internet
content. Take China, for example. Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, and even the
mighty Google is not available in China unless you use a VPN service.

If you use a local streaming service at home, it may not be
available when you cross the border. And some sites that may not be restricted
won’t necessarily work in the same way as they do in your country. Netflix, for
example, has different TV shows available based on the geolocation.

Avoiding
advertisements

We all know that feeling when you check some products online,
and their ad pops up in every site you visit for the next few weeks. When you
don’t use a VPN service, every website you visit knows your IP address. It lets
them follow you with advertisements on every site you visit.

Are you feeling stalked much?

It’s even worse when traveling. Not only do you see ads you’d
prefer to ignore, but some will also be in the language you don’t understand.

With VPN, your IP address changes every time you connect to a different server. You won’t be seeing recurring ads. Some VPN services, such as NordVPN, also have a function of blocking flashy ads altogether. It improves the speed of your connection and lets you focus on the things that matter.

Getting better
deals

Traveling sites are known for tracking their customers to adapt
the available offers to a particular person. Whether you book on working day or
weekend, whether you’ve visited the site before or it’s your first time — many
factors affect the prices you see. Your geolocation adds up to that too.

Imagine this. You’re in the middle of your Europe trip, looking for flights from Switzerland. As the cost of living is pretty high there, the ticket prices will be as well. But if you use a VPN, you can connect to the site through a server in a different country.

It may affect the prices you see on the site. Thus, many smart travellers use a VPN to check the offers from a couple of locations to get the best deals when making holiday plans.

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One thought on “What is VPN and Why You Need It When Travelling”

omg i have never thought about vpns in a travel context…i have nord, but on my laptop. i mostly travel with tablet\phone, and after reading your article i will definitely install it on these devices. nord’s a great vpn so i think it will be irreplaceable in my future journeys.

We are all guilty of using public WiFi. Be it at our favourite coffee shop or a free hotspot we stumble upon while travelling. We see free WiFi, and we think “Jackpot!” instead of considering the potential security threats. But ignoring these threats doesn’t make them scarce. One doesn’t even […]